


Us: Rishi Epilogue

by Ariella1941



Series: In The Shadow of Empires [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, POV First Person, Plot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 17:42:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7854787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ariella1941/pseuds/Ariella1941
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Revan's defeat on Rishi, Imperial and Republic forces form an uneasy truce to defeat the former Jedi Knight once and for all. And Theron finally admits to his attraction to Aryelle.</p><p>Shadow of Revan Era</p>
            </blockquote>





	Us: Rishi Epilogue

**Author's Note:**

> I put this at Mature because the end gets a little steamy, so it's a just in case.
> 
> I will be filling in the blanks of what happened when Aryelle arrived on Rishi, but this sequence has been haunting me for weeks and I needed to get it down.
> 
> Enjoy.
> 
> Edit: As usual, some of the dialog comes directly from the game. This is not an attempt to claim ownership over those pieces. They belong to the writers of SWTOR.

_Theron Shan:_

So, this was going to be awkward. I knew it from the moment Marr and Satele arrived. The whole idea of this little meeting was crazy, but crazy was all we had at the moment. Plus Dee Four’s attempt to play host wasn’t helping.

“All right,” I said trying to stay optimistic, “off to a good start.”

“Master Satele. Darth Marr.” Aryelle nodded to both the Grand Master and the Sith the SIS had tagged as the nominal leader of the Dark Council. “Thank you both for coming.”

Satele returned the nod without looking at me, and I was fine with that. More family drama wasn’t what I needed right now.

“The Revanite ships have all been scattered, captured or destroyed,” Marr said in that disturbing voice. Part of it was the mask, but it was more than that, and I really didn’t want to dwell on _what_.

“Their confederates aboard our vessels are in chains,” the Sith continued, “You found a threat, and gave us the means to root them out _separately_. What do we have to discuss?”

“Revan is still alive, My Lord,” Lana told him, “and his plans don’t stop here.”

That was my cue to drop the bombshell. I wasn’t happy about it, and I really didn’t want to see Aryelle’s reaction when I delivered the bad news.

“The Emperor’s not dead, isn’t he?”

Marr nodded, “No one person, not even Revan, can truly kill the Emperor.”

“I struck the Emperor down myself, Lord Marr,” Aryelle objected, “I _saw_ him die.”

“You destroyed his body,” Marr replied with what surprisingly sounded like respect, “even wounded his spirit; perhaps more than anyone before you.” He shook his head. “But that was not enough. The Emperor’s current state is nebulous… incorporeal. To strike at him, Revan would first have to return him to a physical form.”

“Which is exactly what the Emperor wants,” Satele said, but I could see a few cracks in the Jedi serenity. She knew something about how Revan could bring the Emperor back, but she didn’t seem to want to share with the rest of the class.

Marr, however, was more than willing to fill in some of the blanks.

“He will destroy Revan, then move on to the rest of us. In time, he will consume _all life_ in the galaxy.”

This was getting better and better. I glanced over at Aryelle, who didn’t seem surprised at Marr’s little declaration.

Again, I was feeling pretty helpless, and hating every second of it.

“How do we prevent it?” Aryelle asked. “How do we stop Revan?”

“The Emperor’s hide-a-way is a secret; even to the Dark Council,” Marr replied.

At least this I could help with, since Revan was a bit too willing to chat me up in an attempt to convince me to join him. I punched a couple of commands into the main holo terminal, which obediently brought up the image of the Emperor’s little hiding place.

“The fourth moon of Yavin,” I said, feeling a bit smug since it’s not every day you get to drop the fact you know more about the Emperor than the Dark Council does. “That’s where we’ll find Revan. He wanted me to join him there.” I smiled coldly as I continued. “Never said I couldn’t bring a few friends.”

“According to our data, he still has extensive forces at his disposal” Lana added. “We’d stand a better chance of overcoming them together.”

Satele shook her head, and I _knew_ what she was going to say before the words were even out of her mouth.

“No matter what evidence I present, I doubt the Supreme Chancellor will agree to any kind of alliance or truce.”

“Neither will the Dark Council,” Marr said, “but my ships and the soldiers aboard them are loyal to _me_.”

“I could convince my troops to maintain a truce,” Satele replied. “They’ve seen Revan’s threat firsthand.”

 _We’ve actually made some progress. Wonders never cease,_ I thought as I headed back to the safe house’s main terminal to start clean up.

“So we meet on Yavin Four,” Aryelle said, and Marr growled his agreement. When the Sith Lord and his jackboots were gone I managed to relax a little.

Hey, we may be working with Marr and his forces, but it doesn’t mean I have to like them… or trust them.

“Theron?”

I heard the concern in Satele’s voice, but I wasn’t ready to deal with it. Not now.

“We can talk on the way to Yavin,” I told her. “I have some business to finish here.”

I heard her speak to Aryelle quietly for a moment before leaving, but I didn’t much pay attention. Not until Lana opened her mouth.

“The conspiracy has finally been exposed,” she said. “We’ve been hiding our actions from our allies for so long; it’s a relief to get it out in the open.”

And there was the opening I’d been looking for.

“So we can talk about how you threw me to the wolves now?” I asked, trying to keep the acid out of my voice as I walked back over.

“So that’s why she stopped me!” Jakarro growled.

“I made a calculated strategic decision, and it worked, as we can all see now,” Lana shot back.

“And if you’d talked to me about it I would have volunteered, but you didn’t even give me a choice,” I told her even as I grit my teeth.

“We couldn’t risk the Revanites knowing that your capture was a ploy. You had to be in the dark for the plan to work.”

“Look, Lana,” I said, fighting to keep my voice even, “I don’t really have the patience right now to teach a class on basic tradecraft, but field agents generally know how to play-act pretty well, or they don’t last long.”

“Theron’s right, Lana,” Aryelle told her. “And he had a right to know the danger he was going into. You should have never kept it from him, or any of us.”

“I’m not going to apologize…” Lana started but Kira cut her off.

“Of course you’re not. That’s not the Sith way, right?” she snarled. “Who cares if someone gets hurt as long as you get what _you_ want. People only come in two categories for Sith: useful and not so much.”

“The end clearly justified the means, Kira.” Lana said. It was possible she sounded defensive, but that might have been my imagination. “This isn’t getting us anywhere, and Yavin is a long way from here. It’s time we moved on.”

“Agreed,” I said, wanting to put as much distance as I could between me and Lana before I did something I might regret later.

_Might._

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the two Jedi look at each other, then Kira said, “Yeah, see you all at Yavin,” and walked out. Lana and Jakarro (with Dee Four in tow) left on her heels, leaving me and Aryelle alone for the first time in months.

“Do you have a moment, Theron?” she asked.

“Of course,” I replied, suddenly feeling nervous. I’d been hoping to get her alone since she arrived on Rishi. Wait, that sounded really bad when I thought about it.

What I meant was I’d been wanting to talk to her privately since she got here, and okay, maybe do a _little_ bit more than talk if she wanted. The problem was I tried to think of what to say, but could never come up with anything that made me sound like something other than an awkward teenager trying to impress the girl. I could feel her watching me, and so I decided to do what I always did: improvise.

“Guess you’ll think twice before a spy asks you out for a quick chat,” I said to her and smiled. “Wouldn’t want to go through that again.”

“I don’t know, Theron,” Aryelle replied, “I’ve worked with the SIS a lot in the past few years, and there’s at least one spy I’d happily chat with anytime. But he owes me a couple drinks from those last cantina visits.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I told her.

Okay, this isn’t getting very far. Time to change tactics.

I looked at Aryelle and tried not to shuffle my feet as I spoke.

“I may have mentioned this before, but I’ve never been much of a team player. Things usually go better for me when I’m on my own.”

She nodded. “I’d been meaning to ask you about that. I mean, the SIS isn’t exactly strapped for manpower, so how did you get away without even a partner?”

I laughed and said, “I like to think they couldn’t find anyone who could keep up, but I’m sure the Director has a different opinion.”

 _I am_ so _bad at this._

“What I’m trying to say is thank you,” I told her seriously. “The trust you’ve shown in me, everything you’ve done… I couldn’t have done this on my own. Not this time.” I moved closer, reaching out to cup her cheek in my hand. “Working with you has made all this… insanity, worthwhile.”

She covered my hand with her own, and said, “I feel the same, Theron.”

I don’t remember who moved first, and I doubt I ever will. What I do remember is the softness of her mouth on mine. The way we fit together as I wrapped my arms around her waist. The scent of her skin. The little noises she was making that were driving me crazy.

I gave as good as I got, pouring everything I’d been feeling for the past several months into that kiss. Desire, hunger, need… and a few things I just wasn’t ready to name yet.

We were clinging to each other when we finally broke for air. Aryelle buried her face in my shoulder, her breath warm against my skin. I could barely breath, but a small part of me wanted to see what would happen next so I leaned in and whispered to her:

“Glad we’re on the same page.”

Aryelle moaned softly as she looked up at me with dark eyes, and for a moment I _really_ wanted to test how sturdy that damned table was.

_There’s still Yavin… and Revan._

The thought was enough to pull me back to reality for the most part. I carefully let go of her, and stepped back even as I began to run through one of the meditation exercises Master Zho taught me.

Yeah, I get the irony.

Once I was certain I had some kind of control I looked at her. Her eyes were closed, and as I listened her own breathing evened out. When Aryelle opened them again, the Jedi serenity was back. Imperfect, but there.

“Let’s go find out what Yavin has in store for us,” I said, offering my hand to her.

“Us?” Aryelle replied, her fingers curling around my own.

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Us.”

As we walked out of the Rishi safe house for the last time, I felt content in a way I hadn’t before.

_Us._

I liked the sound of that.  


End file.
